


then she walked into my life

by burke33



Category: 2AM, EXO (Band), GOT7, Mamamoo, TWICE (Band)
Genre: Acting, Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, Performance Art
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-11
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-07-14 11:35:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7169393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/burke33/pseuds/burke33
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the start of Hirai Momo's sophomore year in the acting program at SeoulArts. Last year was kind of a rough start but she's determined to make this year different. Except there's a new acting teacher who is sure to challenge her and a new transfer who keeps distracting her.<br/>This might be a little more difficult than she thought.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. new year, new me....maybe

**Author's Note:**

> so this is my first attempt at a multi-chaptered fic! I don't think this will be more than 5 chapters.
> 
> Disclaimer: I have no clue how the program structure actually works at SeoulArts. All the info I'm using is based off of the program I'm in at my university. I apologize for information or references that may not be correct.

Momo trudged up the stairs to the third floor, head pounding, silently cursing her best friend who lured her into going out even though school started the next day.

 

_"Momoriiiiiiiiing, will you come? Pretty please?”_

_Momo glanced over at Dahyun before turning her attention back to the rack of clothing in front of her. Why did she invite her again?_

_"Dubu, I already told you, classes start tomorrow. I can’t."_

_The younger girl pouted from the other side of the clothing rack. "Your first class doesn't start till 12:30."_

_"Exactly. I don't want to roll out of bed at noon, hungover, and rush to class. Who knows what my teacher is gonna make us do? For all I know we'll have to do the monologues we're doing for auditions and I barely have them memorized as is.”_

_"I thought you theater majors were supposed to be able to pull those out whenever. And no one said you had to get drunk.”_

_Momo raised her eyebrow at Dahyun. "You're just as bad about procrastinating as I am. How's that film you've been talking about doing for the last, what, nine months going? AND It's you guys. Getting drunk is implied, if not expected."_

_Dahyun opened her mouth as if to refute the statement but then thought better of it. Instead, she began tugging at Momo's arm like a five year old._

_"Come on! What do I have to do to convince you?"_

_Momo chuckled. "You can't. Summer is over and I have get my priorities back in order. What do you think of this shirt? I like this color.” She held up a light pink button up against her torso, looking in the mirror. "The color is nice" Dahyun hummed in agreement, mind obviously somewhere else._ _Slowly, a conniving grin broke out on her face but was quickly schooled into an agreeable expression when Momo turned around. "Do you think I should try it on?"_

_"I don't see the point, you look good in everything. Asshole."_

_Momo laughed and exaggeratedly flipped her hair, whapping Dahyun in the face. "I didn't ask to be born this beautiful, babe."_

_Dahyun attempted a punch at Momo's arm but missed as the older girl dodged it, still laughing as she started walking to the front of the store. "You have anything else you wanna look at?”_

_Dahyun huffed and trailed behind Momo. "No I'm good. One of these days I will get you.” They reached the checkout counter where a long line was winding from the front. "Damn, why is it so busy?" Momo muttered._

_"So about tonight..."_

_She shot her best friend a warning look. “Dude."_

_Dahyun put her hands in surrender. "I'm just saying, you know, Tiffany will probably be there." Just as Dahyun thought, Momo perked up at the statement and Dahyun stifled a laugh as she tried (but failed) to keep her expression casual and there was obvious interest in her voice as she said, "Oh really?”_

_"Yeah I told you everyone was gonna be there. Still not interested?”_

_Momo bit her lip and weighed her options. She knew going out with her friends was a guaranteed hangover and she had already sworn to herself that this year was going to be different, meaning no drinking, no weed, no procrastination. But if Tiffany was going to be there...Momo hadn't seen her since school ended and she couldn't deny the lighting designer had been on her mind a lot through the last couple of months._

_"Fine. But just for ONE drink. And then I'm done”_

_Dahyun clapped and jumped up and down happily. "Yay! You'll be glad you came out.”_

_"I came out a long time ago. Unlike you." Momo stuck out her tongue_

_"Cute. Sorry not all of us are fortunate enough to be a walking rainbow like you.”_

 

 

Ugh. She hoped the aspirin would kick in soon. She shouldn't have gone out. Tiffany was nowhere to be found which only confirmed Momo's suspicions that Dahyun had indeed pulled one over on her and, in typical Momo fashion, she used alcohol to quell the disappointment. So much for the new year, new me thing.

She really hoped her acting teacher wouldn't make them do anything. But she was new and no one knew anything about her. It would be just Momo’s luck that they'd start doing movement work or something. Her stomach lurched at the thought.

If she was being honest, Momo was kind of nervous about seeing everyone again. She hadn't really managed to make many close friends last year. No one tells you that changing your major halfway through your college career would usually mean starting from scratch. So there she was, a 21 year old "freshman" in a class with a bunch of 18 year olds.

She wouldn't call herself an introvert by any means but it was harder to deal with a crowd of people instead of one or two. So she kept her distance. Going down to the basement where everyone hung out made her nervous so she would stay up on the first floor in between classes, not really interacting with people in the department unless she was in class. She was fairly certain no one disliked her and while she wasn't close with anyone, she got along with them decently.

She stopped outside the door to the rehearsal room and braced herself.

_"Here goes."_

She pushed open the door and there was a moment while everyone who was in the room looked toward her.

“It’s Momo!”

She felt a small body slam into her and looked down to see Son Chaeyoung squeezing her tightly. She returned the hug, smiling, as others came towards her, shouting out greetings. As Chaeyoung released her, she was greeted with more hugs which she found odd but definitely not unwelcoming.

They made their way back over to the side of the room where all the backpacks were, talking about their summers; Jo Kwon talking/bragging about his experience being in American Idiot, Hwasa talking about going abroad to France for the summer while Jackson had gone to San Francisco for an acting intensive workshop. A wave of jealousy passed over Momo as she listened. She had spent the entire summer working two jobs, washing dishes and waitressing, in order to save money but she tried to let it go and be happy for her classmates. She scanned the room, trying to see who all was here.

Two people in the corner caught her eye. One was Park Jihyo, a directing/management major and a girl Momo didn't recognize. She gave a friendly wave to Jihyo, guilt rising as she recalled how the red-head had tried several times to approach Momo during class last year but the latter was always too wrapped up in herself to appreciate the gesture. Bless her heart, Jihyo never stopped trying. Momo made a mental note that she owed it to Jihyo to give her a chance. It didn't surprise her that Jihyo would be the one to talk to reach out to a new person; she had always been like that, endlessly friendly and an excellent conversationalist. If anyone could make the new girl feel more at ease, it was Jihyo. Momo herself didn't really acknowledge the other girl, only giving her a small smile after waving to Jihyo. She looked very overwhelmed by the chaos in the room and Momo didn't blame her. Being in a room with a bunch of very loud strangers was probably the last thing she needed.

Momo gazed at her a second longer before turning away. New Girl was pretty. Pretty girls made Momo nervous.

Just then, their teacher entered and greeted the class with a commanding aura.

“Hello all, my name is Bae Yoon Jung and I will be your intermediate acting teacher for this semester. Please form a circle on the ground and we’ll start by going over the syllabus.”

As everyone was sitting, Momo somehow ended up sitting next to New Girl. After going over the syllabus, Professor Bae said, “Now since I’m new on the faculty here, I’d like to ask that we go around and introduce ourselves, particularly because I understand there is also a new student.” gesturing to the new girl.

The girl’s cheeks went red and she quickly looked down as if in doing so, the earth would swallow her.

“We’ll start from my left and work our way around, shall we?” gesturing to Jackson. For a guy who was as well-built and tall as he was, his voice came out a lot higher pitched than Momo, and apparently the rest of the class remembered, causing everyone to start laughing. He took it all in stride, grinning while he spoke. “Yo, I'm Jackson Wang. Sophomore here with an emphasis on performance and if I didn’t have a sore throat right now, I wouldn’t sound like a squeaky toy so everyone shut up.”

Sitting next to him was Jo Kwon a well-groomed, lithe young man who carried himself with the confidence of Beyoncé. “Hello, I'm Jo Kwon, also a sophomore. I’m double-majoring in performance and directing/management.” His smile bordered on arrogance which made Momo roll her eyes a bit. He was funny, yes, but his humor often came at the expense of others.

Tzuyu was next, sitting with her back ramrod straight. She was the president of student board within the department, the senator who represented the department within the college, and a member of at least five different clubs on campus. Momo was fond of Tzuyu and admired her work ethic but really thought the girl needed to lighten, preferably before she gave herself an anyuersm.

After Tzuyu came Chaeyoung. Chaeyoung was an interesting character. Momo knew she was very smart and an especially good writer but also a little odd. Chaeyoung was very hot and cold to people, greeting them with a bear hug one day and the next not talking to anyone at all. You never quite knew which one you’d get on a given day.

Then came Jihyo. Unlike the majority of the people in class, Jihyo was strictly directing/management, only in the class because it was a requirement which Momo thought was a little ridiculous. But the school wanted their students to be well-rounded so here she was.

Sana was also from Japan but grew up in Korea. It seemed like she could blind the room with the sheer brightness of her smile. She was not the brightest bulb in the box but she made up for it in pure kindness. It never ceased to amaze Momo how she could get away with almost anything with just a few well-placed smiles.

Xiumin was quiet, someone else who also kept to himself freshman year. Momo felt a kind of kinship with him since discovering through the exercises they did prior his parents also divorced while he was young and dealt with many of the same issues Momo did following that. They had an unspoken understanding and respect for each other which she appreciated.

Last but certainly not least was Hwasa. The girl oozed confidence and it would be annoying if she didn’t have the talent, plus some, to back it up. But instead of becoming arrogant and cocky, Hwasa was probably one of the most genuine people Momo had met in her life, never failing to give credit for the work others did and cheering them on.

Hwasa nudged her and Momo's attention snapped back. It was her turn already? Oops. Having been caught spacing out already, she attempted to avoid both the teacher and new girl’s gazes as she spoke. "Hi, I'm Hirai Momo. I moved here from Japan when I was 10. This is my third year in college but I'm technically a sophomore in this program. I'm 21 so I'm the grandma of the group."

There were a couple chuckles including one from New Girl which made Momo kind of proud. "I'm a performance emphasis...yeah that's all I got." She looked at Professor Bae who gave her a smile and a nod and then to her right at New Girl, signaling she was done talking. Momo could see her hands shaking a bit and she felt kind of bad for the other girl. She couldn't imagine how intimidating it must be to come into a classroom full of people who already knew each other.

“I'm Myoui Mina. I'm 20 and a transfer from Japan. I’m a directing/management emphasis. I’m looking forward to working with you all.”

Her voice was soft but steady and Momo took the opportunity to study her face. She had a mole on the top left side of her nose and a hell of a jawline. Soft yet still somehow angular…she realized Mina had stopped talking and was now looking directly at her. She quickly tore her gaze away, feeling her face heat up.

Looking around the circle, Professor Bae smiled and said, “It’s lovely to meet all of you and I’m very excited to have this opportunity to work with you. Since it’s only the first day, I’ll let you go early but be sure to come to class on Wednesday with the monologues you’re planning on doing for auditions prepared if you’re a performance emphasis. I’ll also be sending out a list of scenes that will be your first assignment and who your scene partner will be so keep a look out for that.”

The noise level in the room grew again as everyone began packing up their stuff. Despite the warm welcome Momo received earlier, she wasn’t keen on sticking around especially since she knew her meter was about to run out so she took off quickly. Getting new scenes and finding out your partners was her favorite part of assignments and she was really looking forward to what Professor Bae had picked out for everyone. She hadn’t worked with most of the people in her class so she had no idea who her partner would be. Now she just had to get through the rest of her classes and work without throwing up or passing out from this dumb headache.

Momo sighed. This was gonna make for a long Monday


	2. when god laughs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "God is laughing at me. He has to be. There is literally no other explanation for this."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. I know it's been a while. My brain has been swimming with all the possible directions this story could go and I'm having a hard time settling on one. This chapter's not very long but I wanted to post something to show I haven't abandoned this. 
> 
> My plan as of now is try to update once a week and at the very least, once every two weeks.
> 
> Also this is so un-beta'd it hurts.
> 
> Again, thank you for reading and if you feel so inclined, kudos and comments are greatly appreciated!

Momo thought she had gotten over her 'crushing on straight girls' phase a long time ago. She was older. She was wiser. She knew better. The odds of Mina being anything other than straight were not good. As far as Momo knew, she herself was the only lesbian in the department. Of course, there were plenty of other people on the spectrum but no other girls who were strictly into girls. It was exceedingly rare to get someone who transferred into the school anyways and in Momo’s mind, there was absolutely no chance that the one student who had would swing that way, as much as she wanted it to be true.

And yet here she was, unable to keep her mind from wandering to her. It was nearly impossible for Momo not to notice the red-head. Mina seemed to be integrating into the department well and it seemed like no matter where Momo went, she was there too. She hoped she wasn’t being too creepy but she couldn’t stop herself from sneaking glances every five minutes, hoping to catch a glimpse of her smile or her laughing, hand covering her mouth. Mina was obviously shy but she was getting comfortable around everyone and those smiles and laughs Momo was starting to adore came out more and more often.

With the exception of Momo. Because god forbid she should be able to act naturally around a girl she liked. It was dumb; she had barely exchanged more than a couple greetings with the girl but each time it happened, it turned Momo into a stuttering mess. She was convinced the other girl thought she was slow and as much as Momo wanted to prove her wrong, it was like she just couldn’t get her brain to cooperate with the rest of her body.

If this kept up, this would be an exceptionally long semester.

 

\-------------------------------

 

Momo slammed the door shut behind her, feeling like the living dead. She shuffled over to the couch, dropped her bag beside it, and proceeded to promptly face-plant into the cushions.

“Sweet relief.” She groaned. 

Momo heard a door shut and footsteps coming closer but before she could even look up to greet her roommate she was being smushed further into the couch as her roommate leapt on her back.

The blonde yelped at the sudden weight and yelled, “Yoo Jeongyeon, do you wanna die?!”. The threat didn’t quite carry the weight she wanted, being muffled by the couch cushions, only causing Jeongyeon to laugh at the other girl's pain as she bounced on top of her a few times for good measure before finally hopping off. “Considering you look the walking dead, I’m not that scared.”

“Shut it. I had class all day and callbacks just got done-” she raised her head briefly to look at her phone “-at 11 and in approximately two hours, I’ll have been up for a full 24.”

“Damn. How’d that happen?”

“First week of school.” The blonde girl rolled over onto her back and stretched out, groaning. “Callbacks were rough. I didn’t realize how hard fight choreography is.”

Jeongyeon cocked her head. “You think it went well at least?”

“As well as it could’ve considering I knew nothing about what I was doing.”

“When does the list go up?”

“Sometime tonight. Which means if you need me, I’ll be in my room refreshing the page over and over again.”

Jeongyeon chuckled. “Well, while you’re doing that, I’ll be making pasta. I’ve been craving it all day. You in?”

Momo felt her mouth start to salivate at the thought. “Hell yes. I haven’t eaten since 2. You are a godsend.” She hauled herself up and followed Jeongyeon into the kitchen, watching the other girl rummage around their kitchen, pulling out ingredients. A sudden pang of guilt shot through her as she leaned against the counter.

“How’s your week been? I feel like I’ve been bitching non-stop.” Momo said, the guilt coloring her voice. She hadn't really talked to her roommate since school started, trying to juggle the chaos that is the first week of school but she still felt bad.

“Don't worry about it." Jeongyeon smiled good-naturedly at the blonde and shrugged. "It's been pretty boring really. You can only go through so many syllabi until they all start to blur together. Chem might be a bitch though.”

“That’s what you get for majoring in biology.”

“At least I know how to talk to my classmates.”

Momo sighed. “You’re bringing that up now? Really? I told you, I’m not avoiding her.”

Jeongyeon raised an eyebrow. “You literally just told me last night that you’ve haven’t been down in the basement all week since school started because you don’t want to run into her and quote “make an ass out of yourself” unquote.”

“Okay, so I might be a little intimidated by her. ”

Jungyeon dropped the package of pasta she was holding dramatically and flung a hand over her heart, feigning disbelief. “The great, unflappable Hirai Momo intimidated? Shit, I gotta meet this girl and give her an award for achieving the impossible.”

“Nice. Yoo got jokes.” Momo stuck her tongue out at her.

“I'd find that funnier if you hadn’t already used it a thousand times. Nice try.” The short-haired girl broke apart the pasta and tossed it into the boiling water as she spoke, “Personally I think you’re making a big deal out of nothing but that’s just me. You've barely talked to her.”

“I know, I know. It’s just, you know how I am. It takes me forever to warm up to people.”

“I hear you. And I’m just saying, with your department as small as it is, you’re gonna have to talk to her eventually.”

Momo rolled her eyes at the other girl. “It’s annoying when you’re right, you know that?”

Jeongyeon grinned. “I know. Now go shower, you stink.”

It was pure luck that Jeongyeon was able to dodge the pepper that was promptly hurled at her.

 

\-------------------------------

 

Momo sat back in the booth grumbling, “Why do I even bother being on time when she’s always late?” She had made plans to meet with Dahyun at a bar near campus to decompress and in true fashion, Dahyun was late. Again. With a deep sigh, Momo pulled out her phone and checked her email. Her nerves fluttered as she saw an email from Professor Bae, the email subject titled, “SCENES”. As she clicked on it, the curiosity of who her partner would be gnawed at her. After what seemed like an eternity, the email finally loaded and Momo scanned the list.

 _"Jackson with Sana, Chaeyoung and Jo Kwon, Jihyo and Hwasa....where's mine?"._ She finally found it and as she read it, her jaw dropped. That was how Dahyun found her when she arrived. The younger girl slid into the booth and rambled off apologies. “Sorry, traffic was absolute shit and-" only noticing when Momo hadn't said anything yet, which was unusual.

"….Uh, you okay?” 

Momo stared off into space, muttering, “God hates me. That’s the only explanation.”

Dahyun snapped her fingers into front of the other girl’s face only to get no response. “Momo? Earth. To. Momo.” She looked at her for a few seconds before socking her in the arm. Momo was finally jolted out of her stupor and rubbed her arm, looking wounded.

“What the hell?”

“Sorry but you looked straight up catatonic, like you saw a ghost or something.”

“I might as well have.” Momo leaned forward and rubbed her eyes. “I just got an email from my acting teacher. She gave us our scene and scene partners. Three guesses as to whom I’m paired with.”

Dahyun scrunched up her forehead thoughtfully. “I….hm. Gimme a sec. Is it Jihyo?”

Momo shook her head. “Nope.”

“Chaeyoung?”

“Nuh uh.”

“Jo Kwon.”

“God I wish. No, it’s Mina. So it’s official. God hates me. He is laughing at me. There is no other explanation.”

“Mina? As your Mina?”

“What? No-no, she's not _my_ Mina!”

A smirk grew across Dahyun’s face. “Well heeeeyyy. Lucky you, getting paired up with your crush.”

Momo groaned. “And you wanna know the icing on the cake? I just looked up the play we’re doing our scene from, something called Stop Kiss and my character ends up falling in love with hers.”

“Holy shit. No way!" Dahyun exclaimed. "Dude, you should be on your knees thanking God for providing such a prime opportunity.”

“Prime opportunity my ass. It’s bad enough I already have a crush on her and we’re doing this but I've hardly talked to her at all. AND I’m like 100% sure she’s straight.”

“You don’t know that?”

“She is, like, the epitome of straight girl.” Momo put her head in her hands and groaned again. “Maybe I can get Professor Bae to put me with someone else.”

Dahyun pointed her finger emphatically at the blonde. “Don’t you dare. So she’s not gay. You can live vicariously through this. Even if romance doesn't blossom, you can at least get to know her. And if worst comes to worst, nothing will have changed.”

 

\-------------------------------

 

In the spirit of actually attempting to keep her resolutions of staying on top of school, Momo resolved to actually read the play her scene was from before next class. So what if she had waited until the night before to start? At least she was doing it. Except it had only been about an hour and all Momo wanted to do was bang her head against the desk. If she had thought reading the play’s description was bad, it was nothing compared to the actual play. As she steadily got further and further into it, she still couldn’t believe it. The whole situation was bad enough but just to add to it, the scene Professor Bae had given them was essentially the two characters tip-toeing around their newfound attraction to one another.

 _“Honestly, what are the odds?”_ Momo shook her head. _“I’m being dumb. It’s just acting. It’s all pretend.”_  

 

Except Momo wished it wasn't. Maybe that's what was making this so hard. 


	3. bad habits

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally Mimo meets! 
> 
> Both the plays mentioned, Stop Kiss by Diana Son and She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen (the one I have Momo choreographing and yes it actually does have a dance battle in it), are wonderful LGBT-themed plays if you guys are into that.
> 
> Still unbeta'd as hell. 
> 
> Really appreciate all the love for this, the kudos and comments! Keep 'em coming!

 

“Remember, the sooner you get started, the better. Make sure to meet up with your partners at least three times before we see these up on their feet in two week’s time. Have a good day.”

 

With that, Professor Bae dismissed them. Momo slowly got up from the floor, wondering if she should take the initiative to approach the other girl. The thought made her even more nervous than she thought possible, sweaty palms and all.  “ _God_ _, if I’m like this now, what the hell am I going to do when we have to do our scene? No.”_ she shook her head. “ _I can do this. It’s just a scene. I can keep my feelings separate from it, right? That's what acting is.”_

She picked her bag up off the floor, slung it over her shoulder and hung back a bit while her class slowly trickled out of the room. She snuck a glance over at the end of the room where Mina had been sitting and saw the other girl on her phone. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself and made her way over to the red-haired girl.

“Hi, Mina? Guess we’re partners.” She smiled, hoping she didn’t look like as much of a nervous wreck as she felt like. 

Mina’s head shot up at the sound of Momo’s voice and she quickly got to her feet, bowing.  “Momo. Yes, I suppose we are.” She said in her quiet voice and gave a shy smile in return.  Momo's brain short-circuited at the sight and she finally managed to stutter out,  “Um. We s-s-should probably figure out when, uh, I mean, what time to meet up? To rehearse. When are you free?”

Mina tucked her hair behind her hair. “Let me check my schedule.” She smiled sheepishly. “I still don’t quite have it down yet.”

The other girl nodded in understanding. “Oh no, I totally get that. You’d think after being here for a year, I’d know where everything is but I’ll be compulsively checking mine until at least the end of next month just to make sure I don’t go to the wrong room or something.

Mina giggled, unlocking her phone and hitting a few buttons. “Glad to know I’m not alone.” Her forehead furrowed as she checked it over. “Well this is my first class of the day so my mornings are pretty free. And I’m free after 5 MWF. Tuesdays and Thursdays aren’t great. I have class from 8-4.”

Momo cringed in sympathy. “Oo, that’s rough. I had a semester like that last year. So not fun. I suppose it sounds like mornings would work best? My work schedule can really sporadic with rehearsals and stuff.”

“Oh, where do you work?” 

“I, um, wash dishes at this...retirement home… lame, I know.” Momo kicked herself mentally. It’s not like she was actually embarrassed about her job but it's not exactly what you tell a girl you’re trying to impress. With a thoughtful expression, Mina regarded the blonde for a moment. “I don’t think it’s lame. A job is a job and I’m sure the people there appreciate it.” 

Momo felt her heart melt a little. She chuckled and scratched the back of her head awkwardly. “Heh. That’s nice of you to say but, y’know, it doesn’t exactly impress people.”

Shrugging, Mina knelt down and picked up her backpack, adjusting it on her shoulders. “People will use anything to make themselves feel superior. You shouldn’t take stock of their opinion.”

Momo nodded and sighed. “I try but it’s a bad habit I have.”

“As long as you try, that’s what matters.” Mina smiled again. “So when do you want to get together?”

“Get together?”

Mina raised an eyebrow, looking amused. “To rehearse.” 

“Oh! Yeah, that. That’s a thing. Uh, I guess like Professor Bae said, the sooner the better so maybe before next class? I don’t know how you work but I always like to get a head start.” Momo lied. The sky would sooner fall on the blonde girl than see her start on a project any earlier than 24 hours before the due date but she sensed that Mina was the kind of girl who had them done a week in advance and the last she wanted her to think was that she didn’t care about the assignment.

She nodded her head in agreement. “I’m the same way. Can never be too prepared you know?”

Momo chuckled a bit. “Right.”There was a beat of awkward silence before Momo blurted out, “Can I get your number?”

Mina looked taken aback and Momo cursed the fact her mouth had gotten ahead of her brain once again, hurriedly continued on, “I mean, in case we need to change the time we’re meeting or something else comes up and we have to cancel. Just in case."

It could have been her imagination but she thought saw a bit of pink on Mina’s cheeks. “Yes, of course. That’s a good idea.”  Momo basically thrusted her phone at the other girl and tried not to jump when she felt their fingers brush. Mina quickly tapped in her info and handed it back.

“I’ll, uh, text you now so then you’ll have my number.” Momo attempted to keep her voice steady and not show her nervousness at the thought of spending one-on-one time with Mina. “Does 11:30 on Friday before class work?

Mina nodded as some of her hair fell into her face. Momo balled her hands into fists to keep them from giving into the temptation of brushing it away. “Sounds good to me.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.” Mina echoed. 

Momo started heading towards the door backwards and gave a dorky little wave to the other girl  “Guess I’ll see you then. Hope you have a good day.”

 

\------

 

The next evening found Momo stretched out like a cat along the couch, feet propped up on the arm, and script in hand as she pored over the words. Her mouth moved along silently as she read through it, attempting to get a feeling of the character. Every so often, she’d take the pencil she had from behind her ear and make notes of the character’s objectives and motives. She was so engrossed in her notes that she didn’t notice the looming presence of two pairs of hands behind her going straight for a tickle attack. Momo let out a high-pitched yelp and promptly fell off the couch, squirming in an attempt to get away from her assailants.

Once the assault finally let up, she pouted and glared at the culprits, Jeongyeon and Dahyun who both looked like they were going to pass out from how hard they were laughing. She flipped them the bird and spat out, “You two. Are assholes.”

The pair just giggled at the rare sight of a pouting Momo and walked over to smother the girl in a hug. Jeongyeon was the first to let go and plopped down besides the blonde, leaning her head on her shoulder.

“Aww, we’re sorry. Actually not really. It was just too good an opportunity to pass up.” 

Dahyun followed suit and sat across from the two other girls and snickered. “Yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you that focused on something that wasn’t a girl.”

Momo leaned over and smacked Dahyun. “You make it sound like girls are all I care about.”

"You mean, they're not?"

With Momo’s attention on Dahyun, Jeongyeon seized the opportunity to pluck the script out of the blonde’s hand and began flipping through the pages. “Hmm, let’s see what we have here.”  The short-haired girl gasped and leaned over to Dahyun whispering conspiratorially to the youngest, “It’s THE scene.”  Realization crossed the youngest’s face as she started poking Momo playfully in the arm. “Ah, that explains everything. Of course your boo is the reason."

“She’s not my boo or whatever! I just wanna make a good impression for our first rehearsal. I don’t want her to think I’m a slacker."

Dahyun raised her eyebrow skeptically. “But you are.”

“Shut up.”

“Hey, she’s gotta win her lady’s favor. She needs all the help she can get.” Jeongyeon interjected. She turned to Momo and asked, “When are you guys meeting?”

Momo sighed. “Tomorrow morning before class. I think we’re just going to read through the scene and talk about our thoughts on it. Which should be interesting. For all I know, she’s probably hella conservative and wigged out by the thought of having to act gay. And if that’s the case, things are gonna get uncomfortable real quick.”

Jeongyeyon snorted derisively. “Wow. Try to be a little more optimistic there, bud.”

Momo groaned and ran both hands through her hair in frustration. “How can I? It’d be one thing if we were both straight but the problem is I don’t know if she realizes I’m not. Like what if she’s weirded out when she knows I’m into girls?”

“You mean she doesn’t know?”

The blonde shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

Jeongyeon scoffed. “You’re like a walking rainbow. There’s no way she doesn’t.”

Dahyun patted Momo on the back and said, “I think you're catastrophizing the situation. Five bucks says she doesn’t give a shit.”

“And I’ll reiterate my point from before. I think you’re making a big deal out of nothing.” Jeongyeon added.

Momo just pulled her knees up to her chest, worried eyes gazing at her script. “I hope you’re right.”

 

\------

 

Terrified of being late, Momo had left the apartment a good half an hour before she needed to which meant she ended up in the rehearsal room 45 minutes before she was supposed to meet Mina. It was odd being in such an big empty space by herself. She decided to try and follow her friends’ advice, figuring that starting on choreography would be a good distraction.

Momo ended up not being cast in either of the plays but one of the directors approached her saying he had heard that she was the person to go to for choreography. There was a dance battle sequence in one of the plays that he needed someone to help with and Momo readily agreed, happy to feel like she was contributing something. He had wanted to use 90’s music and gave Momo a list of potential songs for her to go through and see what she came up with. Scrolling through the list, nothing in particular caught her eye until she saw DJ Doc's Run To You. It was a little predictable but she could work with it. She listened through the song a couple times, going through moves in her head. After about 15 minutes, she stood up and began to work through it.

Although Momo loved acting, she couldn’t deny the rush she got when she was dancing. She suspected it's where she initially gained her love of performing, having been enrolled in dance ever since she was little. Hip-hop was her preference but she dabbled in a little bit of everything. It was helpful, having another method to express herself when words weren't enough. 

It wasn’t until she was attempting a baby freeze that she noticed Mina in the door way and, in true coordinated Momo fashion, fell straight onto her head, ending up collapsed on the floor in a heap. As she tried to get up, she wasn’t sure what hurt worse, her skull or her pride. On the upside, Mina had rushed over as soon as it happened and knelt down next to Momo, looking concerned.

“Oh my gosh! Are you okay?”

Momo waved her off. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine.” She ran her fingers over her skull and winced when she discovered the beginnings of a bump. It didn’t go unnoticed by Mina and she scooted closer to Momo. “Let me see.”

The blonde froze in place, acutely aware of how gentle fingers were threading through her hair and tracing her scalp. She could only pray that Mina didn’t hear how loudly her heart was pounding. After what seemed like an eternity, the red-head leaned back and said, “It doesn’t look too bad. But maybe you should go home. You could have a concussion.”

“No!” Momo cringed at how loud that had been. She forced herself to lower her volume and continued, “Honestly, it’s not a big deal. It happens a lot when I try a new move. Breakdancing clearly isn’t my strong suit.”

“I didn’t know you danced at all.”

Momo rubbed the back of her neck self-consciously. “Ah yeah. It’s just something I do for fun. No big deal.”

“You’re good. At least you were doing well until you wiped out.”

Momo narrowed her eyes and asked. “Just how long were you standing out there?” 

Okay, now that was definitely a blush that spread across Mina’s cheeks. “I’m not sure but long enough." 

“Oh. Well, thanks.” Silence came over the two girls as Momo examined her head with her fingers, attempting to see if anything else was hurt. She was snapped out of her focus by Mina's voice cutting through the room.

“I actually did ballet for a while.” Upon hearing that, her eyes involuntarily did a sweep of Mina's body. It was obvious in the way she held herself. Even sitting on the floor her back was still ramrod straight and arms elegantly placed in her lap.  “Yeah? How long?”

“11 years.”

Momo whistled. “Wow. That’s a long time.”

The other girl shrugged. “I wasn’t ever super serious about it. Just like you said, it was something I enjoyed doing." 

“You doing ballet isn’t too surprising though.”

An eyebrow cocked. “Meaning?”

Momo’s eyes widened and, thinking she had offended Mina, started rambling to explain herself. “I mean…it’s just…you have like an air about you? Like really graceful..almost like a swan. Swans are graceful right? Is graceful even the right word? Maybe elegant is better or is that just a fancy way of saying graceful…” she trailed off, realizing how ridiculous she must sound and wondered if her face wasn’t actually on fire right now because it sure as hell felt like it.

Mina just looked at her for a moment before bursting into a full-blown belly laugh. Until now, Momo had only seen demure, closed-mouth smiles and heard quiet laughs from her but this, this was a beautiful sight to behold and to know she had been the cause of it made her heart swell up with pride.

Fanning herself, Mina calmed down enough to speak although she still had a big smile on her face. “You’re sweet.”

Momo was fairly certain this blush was never going away at the rate this conversation was going. She flashed Mina a small grin. “I try.” She then cleared her throat and got up off the floor saying, “We should probably get to work.”

Mina followed her over to where Momo’s backpack sat and they both sat back down again on the floor, pulling out their scripts. Momo decided it was now or never and asked, “So, uh, do you wanna talk about it first or read through?”

“Let’s talk. We can get a better understanding of how we’re seeing our characters and their dynamic before we try to go through it.”

Momo nodded. “Okay. So….thoughts?”

Mina kept her focus down on her script as she spoke. “It’s interesting. I find it refreshing how so much of the attraction between the two women is in the subtext, like there’s so many deeper meanings behind each of the lines.”

That wasn't what Momo was expecting to hear. “It doesn’t weird you out? Two women being together?”

Mina furrowed her brow and looked confused at Momo’s question. “Not at all. Should it?”

“No, no! It’s just…you never know how people will react. Even if someone says they’re okay with gay people, as soon as they have to deal with it personally, they get weirded out."

“I grew up in a conservative household and family but I don’t share their views. Why should love have restrictions? It doesn’t make sense. If no one is being hurt and two people are happy, there’s no reason they should be kept apart.”

Momo’s heart warmed at the firm way Mina stated her opinion and it felt like a weight had lifted off her chest now that she knew the red-head was okay with the idea. There was still one thing she thought she should bring up.

Momo cleared her throat. “Um, before we get any further into this, I feel like you should know-“ she fiddled with her fingers, looking down at them. “-I’m actually gay so. I just thought you should know because if it makes you uncomfortable, we can still talk to Professor Bae and maybe able to switch. I know it might be weird to be acting attracted to a girl who is actually attracted to girls and-“

A hand appeared in Momo’s line of vision, placed on her knee, cutting her off mid-sentence. Her eyes flicked up to Mina who had a soft smile on her face. The corner of her lip quirked up as she said, “I know. And I’m not uncomfortable.”

Momo gaped. “How’d you know?”

“Jihyo told me. We were talking about our respective scenes and she mentioned it was thoughtful of Professor Bae to give you a scene that you could relate to a bit easier, than having to feign attraction to a man for example. I didn’t follow right away so she elaborated.” She squeezed Momo’s knee lightly. “I do appreciate that you took the initiative to tell me yourself and that you’re being so considerate of my feelings but I think you should give me a little more credit. I know I appear a bit conservative and rigid but I’m really not.”

Momopinched the bridge of her nose and muttered. “Fucking Jihyo..." She regarded Mina carefully and apologized. "You’re so right. I’m sorry. It’s kind of a defense mechanism, I guess. I tend to take the stance of ‘assume the worst so if it does happen, you won’t be surprised’.” She smiled wryly at Mina. “Another bad habit of mine.”

Mina returned the smile and playfully patted Momo’s knee before withdrawing her hand. “We’ll work on it.” she said with a wink.

 

With that out of the way, they discussed their scene more in depth and not that Momo had doubted Mina’s intelligence but she was thoroughly impressed with the other girl’s observations and notes. As if it were possible, when they did actually read through the scene, she grew more impressed, witnessing Mina’s acting ability. She hadn’t known what to expect with the red-head being a directing/management major but it was obvious this wasn’t her first time trying her hand at acting. It was easily the most fun Momo had ever had at a rehearsal. They were both playful, any kind of awkwardness gone, and were already well on their way to shaping their scene when the rest of their class started to trickle in, Hwasa and Chaeyoung being the first.

With a look and a silent agreement, they both put their papers away and turned their attention to the latter two. Chaeyoung was obviously having a good day, judging from the way she plopped directly into Momo’s lap and hung onto her like a monkey. The four of them made small talk but every so often, Momo’s gaze would drift to Mina and the blonde hoped Chaeyoung couldn’t hear her heart thudding. Wishful thinking or not, she could’ve sworn she’d caught the other girl staring a couple of times as well. Momo resolved not to worry about that right now and decided to just be happy the rehearsal went as well as it did.

 

Hopefully the first of many.


	4. red solo cup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This scene would be the death of Momo...but what a way to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ....I really don't have any excuse for not updating other than I'm trash. School started recently as well...
> 
> my bad.
> 
> ANYWAYS.  
> Here is a summary of the play that the scene Momo and Mina are doing: Sara and Callie are walking through New York City’s West Village very late at night, when they share their first kiss. This leads to a vicious attack by an angry bystander, in which Sara is horribly injured. She falls into a coma, which becomes one of the major subjects of the play. George, Callie’s good friend tries to help her with the situation but there is little he can do. Peter, Sara’s ex-boyfriend from St. Louis, comes to help nurse her back to health. The story is told out of chronological order: alternating scenes take place respectively before and after the assault, which is not shown on stage.
> 
> At this point in the play, the two characters are still getting to know each other but also becoming more aware of their attraction towards each other. Their characters met initially through a friend who had given Sara Callie’s name as she was looking for someone to take her cat since her apartment didn’t allow animals. They have just come back from dinner and are playing cards in Callie’s apartment talking about their respective jobs. Callie offers Sara her spare bed when they realize how late it’s gotten and Sara accepts because maybe the cat will sleep with her. Under the guise of luring the cat to the bed, Sara asks Callie to lay in bed with her, saying maybe that will get Caesar to come and lay down. Sara fakes falling asleep but then sees Callie has actually fallen asleep and pulls the covers to tuck her in.
> 
> So enjoy and I'll try really really hard to update again soon

 

Momo really knew how to charm the girls. 

 

**Momo: so on a scale of 1 to white-trash, where would using red solo cups for our wine glasses land?**

 

She had volunteered to be in charge of gathering the props they would need for their scene which had turned out to be a lot more work than she had anticipated. She didn’t have any trouble scrounging up a wine bottle (thank god for Jeongyeon's wine habit) but they didn’t own wine glasses and since Mina lived in the dorms, she assumed she didn’t either and Momo was not about to drop 20 bucks on two wine glasses when she could get a 24 pack of red solo cups for 3 bucks. She just had to make sure Mina didn’t care and if she did…she better be prepared to chip in.

  
Momo stood in front of the paper goods in the 7/11 near her apartment awaiting a response, debating whether she should just buy it and be done with it. Thankfully, her phone buzzed in her hand and she tapped the button to unlock it.

  
**Mina: You don’t own wine glasses?**

 

**Momo: i’m a college student who washes dishes for a living…what do you think?**

 

Momo shook her head and just grabbed the 24 pack. If they ended up not using it, more for Jungyeon and her.

  
She walked up to the front to pay for the cups and after thanking the cashier, headed out and started strolling back towards her apartment. She shivered and pulled her coat tighter around her. Thankfully, it was only about a five-minute walk and before she knew, she had arrived back home. Pulling the door shut behind her, she shed her outer layers and set the bag on the counter. Her phone vibrated on the counter and she picked it up to see that Mina had responded.

 

**Mina: Well, we ARE 20-somethings living in New York…I think we could get away with it.**

 

**Momo: okay good because i already bought them lol**

 

**Mina: Aren’t you efficient? :P**

 

**Momo: always :) we still on for rehearsing tomorrow?**

 

**Mina: Yes. I’ll see you at 11.**

 

**Momo: sounds like a plan :)**

 

Momo tossed her phone on the bed and landed besides it, staring up at the ceiling. She inhaled deeply, attempting to calm the ball of nerves that had seemed to settle in her stomach. They were scheduled to show their scene for the first time tomorrow and Mina suggested rehearsing beforehand so they would be warmed up and ready to go. Momo felt more than confident about the work they had put into it but that didn’t stop her nerves from being on end every time they did it.

The blonde didn’t know how Mina felt but to her it was like she could literally feel the air crackling with electricity every time they made contact; the adrenaline rush it brought Momo was unlike anything she had experienced before. Mina hadn’t been kidding when she talked about the amount of subtext in their scene. If she had thought it was difficult before, it didn’t even come close to measuring up when they put their scripts down and actually focused on connecting with each other. You could read between the lines in practically every sentence, from Momo asking Mina to play one more round of their card game because she doesn’t want to leave yet to accepting Mina’s offer to stay the night since it would be ~so~ dangerous to leave so late, and the best one, when Momo asks Mina to lay with her in the spare bed under the guise of seeing if they can get the cat to come out.

It obviously wasn’t hard on Momo’s part to act attracted to Mina. If she was honest with herself, it wasn’t even acting at this point. Momo felt more like she was playing herself rather than the character. Not only that, but either Mina was very good at acting or she was also very aware of the tension between them. It was driving Momo up the wall, not knowing exactly where they stood. They quickly had become comfortable with one another, if only because the scene demanded that but as Momo had found out, despite her cold outward appearance, Mina was actually very fond of skinship. It had become commonplace that Mina would lay her head on Momo's lap or for Momo to rest her head on the other girl's shoulders or even slinging an arm around her as they walked from class together. 

The blonde let out a huff as she rolled over on her bed and sent a plea to whatever deity was up there that she could get through tomorrow.

\---------------

Momo could not, for the life of her, concentrate on the scene before theirs. It wasn't that Sana and Jackson weren't doing well; they were actually killing it, hitting all the jokes, ramping up the absurdness of their characters to the point where Momo thought Tzuyu was going to pass out from laughing so hard. The nerves had balled up into her stomach again and all she could do was count down the minutes until they began.

At long last, Sana and Jackson finished and took their bows to whooping and hollering of the rest of their class. Momo weakly cheered along before glancing at Mina and offering a small smile. The red haired girl returned it, showing off that gummy smile Momo had grown to adore.

"Well done you two. I'll give you your notes at the end of class." Professor Bae scanned her list. "Now I believe we have....Mina and Momo up next. Are you girls ready?"

Mina answered for the both of them with a confident "Yes." which Momo was thankful for because she doubted her voice would have been as strong.

They set up their stage, placing all the props and making sure everything was in its rightful place. After they were done, they turned to face their class to introduce their piece. Just as they had practiced, Momo began. "Hello, my name is Hirai Momo and this is my partner Myoui Mina. Today we'll be doing a scene from Stop Kiss from Diana Son."

Mina took over the second part and continued with, "I will be playing the role of Callie and Momo will be playing the role of Sara."

The class clapped politely and a silence fell over the room as both girls got in their respective places. Momo made brief eye contact with Mina who was entering from stage left and nodded slightly to indicate she was ready. Mina nodded back and they began.

 

\---------------   


Momo didn’t think their scene could have been going any better. She knew they had their class’ full attention and it had probably been their best run to date. They were nearing the end of the scene, coming up on the part where Momo asks Mina to lay down with her to get Caesar to come. Mina crawled in the makeshift bed with Momo and they both laid there, waiting the appropriate amount of time before Momo said her next line.

  
“Do you see him?”

  
Mina’s head turned in Momo’s direction as she responded, “Who?”

  
Momo couldn’t stop her lip from quirking upwards. “Caesar.”

  
The red-haired girl propped herself up on her elbow to look around. “Not yet.” she said as she laid back down.

They both continued laying there and after a moment, Mina turned over to face Momo only to be met with Momo’s open mouth and (fake) snoring. “Huh?” She said, sounding genuinely surprised. “Are you asleep?” There was a beat before she continued, “You’re not asleep already are you?”

  
Momo stayed still, anticipating the other girl turning to face away from her to go to “sleep” herself. After counting to ten, Momo mimicked Mina’s position from earlier, propping herself up on her elbow to gaze down at the latter. She knew Mina wasn’t really asleep but if anyone were to look, they’d be hard-pressed to think otherwise. Her face held no tension and an aura of calmness radiated from her. As her eyes traced the outline of Mina’s face, Momo felt an impulse to kiss the other girl’s cheek, something they hadn’t rehearsed. She hesitated but her teacher’s voice echoed in the back of her mind, lecturing on the importance of learning to follow your impulses. She made the spur of the moment decision and followed it, dry lips landing on an incredibly soft cheek. To her credit, Mina barely even flinched when Momo’s lips made contact but the blonde could tell she was startled. Momo felt her face heat up at what she had just done and the reaction it garnered from their class, a collective, “Awwww.”

  
She quickly laid back down, facing away from the other girl, her mind racing. Why had she done that? Yes, Professor Bae had been getting on Momo’s case about holding herself back and stifling her impulses but she was pretty sure not stifling this one might have just ruined any of the progress she had made with Mina. Yes, they were comfortable with each other but there had seemed to be an unspoken physical boundary when it came to anything more than hugging or cuddling. Momo had made a big jump over that line just now and the worst part was that she didn’t know if she could play if off as her character’s impulse as opposed to her own.

  
“And scene.” Mina spoke as she gracefully rose from their makeshift bed while Momo tried not to land on her face as she rolled off the opposite side. They stood together in front and took their bow while everyone whooped and hollered. Even Professor Bae allowed a tiny smile escape before her expression reverted to neutral.

  
Momo was unable to look the other girl in the face as they cleaned up their set and helped get the stage prepared for the next duo. She quickly sat back down next Jihyo who gave her a questioning look since it was unusual for Momo to not sit next to Mina as she had done the last couple of weeks. Momo waved her off and focused ahead, trying to ignore the pair of eyes she knew were on her.

\----------

 

Momo straight up booked it out of the classroom after Professor Bae dismissed them and had holed herself up in the library. She needed to talk to someone. She pulled out her phone, went to her favorites, and tapped on Dahyun’s name. It rang a couple times before she was greeted with a cheery, “Heeeeeeey Momo!”

  
“Dubu, I think I fucked up.”

  
“Woah wait what?” The confusion was evident in Dahyun’s voice and Momo heard rustling in the background. “It’s literally only Monday. How could you have fucked up already?”

  
“We had to go for our scene.”

  
Dahyun sounded sympathetic as she cooed, “Oh. Did you choke? It’s okay, stage fright gets even the best actors.” Momo let out a huff of frustration and shot back, “No I did not choke, you jerk!” She lowered her voice and looked around the library before whispering, “I kissed Mina.” There was only silence until Momo’s eardrum was almost shattered by the volume of the younger girl’s squeal.

  
“OH MY GOSH YOU KISSED HER?!" Momo yanked the phone away from her ear and clutched it in pain as she hissed into the receiver. “Say it a little louder why don’t you?? And wasn’t like a kiss kiss, it was just on the cheek!”

  
Dahyun scoffed. “I’m in my room so I can be as loud as I want but oh my god I can’t believe you kissed her. Who knew you had it in you?”

  
“I didn’t ‘have’ it in me or whatever. I don’t know what happened, we were almost at the end of our scene and she was laying there pretending to be asleep and it just….happened. I hope Professor Bae is happy bc the one time I didn’t stifle my impulses probably just ruined my friendship with her." Momo groaned and flopped onto the couch, covering her face with her arm.

  
“What did she say?” Dahyun prodded. Momo huffed again. “I don’t know, I hauled ass out of there.”  Disbelief colored the younger girl's voice as she spluttered. “Wait what?? So you just left her there with no explanation?”

  
“Okay when you say it like that…”

  
Momo could actually hear the girl facepalm and winced. She knew it wasn't the best thing to do but hey, fight or flight you know, and she had chosen flight. “You could have at least explained yourself, dude. She’s probably just as confused as you are.”

  
“Except we’re probably confused about different things. She’s probably wondering why the hell I kissed her when we’ve never done that before and I’m wondering how much she hates me right now.”

  
“I’m sure she doesn’t hate you. How about, instead of assuming the worst like you always do, you actually talk to her? At the very least you can explain yourself and apologize if you need to.”

  
Momo rubbed her face. “Give me a few more minutes to freak out before you get all logical on me.”  

 

“If you wanted someone not rational, you should have called Jungyeon.”

  
Momo was indignant as she vigorously shook her head as she stood up from the couch. “C'mon. You know Jungyeon. She’d be making kissy noises at me and singing that stupid nursery rhyme about kissing in the tree.”

  
"Okay well when you’re done freaking out, talk to her. The longer you leave it alone, the worse it will be. I gotta head to class. Let me know what happens!”

 

\---------------

 

Per her tendency, Momo was still avoiding the other girl and was actively trying to ignore the fact that the other girl hadn't texted her at all. She was thankful that she was meeting up with her classmates for dinner, hoping that would help keep her mind off of the situation.

  
Jo Kwon, Jihyo, Jackson, and Hwasa were all seated around the table when Momo finally arrived, grabbing a chair and pulling it up beside the table, out of breath. “Hey guys sorry I’m late, parking was a bitch to find.”  
  
“Ah, the star of the day! And fashionably late of course.” Jo Kwon greeted her as Momo sat down. She cocked her head in confusion. “Star of the day? What are you on about?”

  
“Yew guysh killed yer schene tuday.” Jackson had taken a (unfortunately) large bite of pizza right before he spoke, causing Jo Kwon to side-eye the boy’s table manners. He finally swallowed and shot Momo a big grin. “Seriously, the chemistry between you two is like POW!” He smacked the table for emphasis and Momo just looked at him, amused. “Our chemistry?”

  
“The tension was so thick, you could’ve sliced it with a knife.” Hwasa chimed in. “That was probably the best work I’ve ever seen you do.” Momo felt her face heat up; she wasn’t used to such high praise, especially from Hwasa, about her work.  She sheepishly scratched the back of her head. “Thanks guys. That means a lot.”

  
Jo Kwon inspected his nails. “You really lucked out with Mina. Who knew she’d be so good at acting?” Jihyo clutched her chest in response, as if she had just been shot. “On behalf of the other management people in our class, I am offended at your lack of faith in our abilities.” Hwasa raised a manicured eyebrow. “Can you blame us? You guys are only there because you have to be.” Jo Kwon nodded in agreement. “But to your credit, you and Mina do actually try which is nice considering some of the other stories I’ve heard.”

  
Jackson waved his hand dismissively. “Can we get back on topic? Like I honestly cannot get over it. Two smokin’ hot girls, the sexual tension was straight up ridiculous," he paused a moment and then smirked. "Well, not straight." Jihyo rolled her eyes and smacked the blonde haired boy upside the head, knocking his snapback off in the process. “Perv.”

She turned back to Momo. “But he does have a point. I’m obviously not an actor as someone,” she side-eyed Jo Kwon who just put up his hands in defense. “But I know good work when I see it. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say the tension was real except I know you’re probably still hung up on Tiffany.”

  
Tiffany. In all honesty, Momo hadn’t even given the other girl a second thought since the school year began. She had caught glimpses of the lighting designer from time to time but she no longer felt the same tug in her heart that she did before. Of course Momo knew the reason why but she wasn't about to divulge that. As much as she loved her classmates, she also knew they thrived on gossip and anything she told them, the whole department would know within a matter of days. 

Momo smiled slightly and took a drink. "Nah, I'm done with her. I've had enough of chasing after straight girls."

"You and Mina would make a really cute couple." Hwasa mused. The blonde choked on her water and Jihyo thumped her on the back a couple of times. Wiping her eyes away, she coughed out a, "Yeah right. There's no way she could be gay."

"Has anyone actually asked her?" Jackson looked around at the table to see everyone shaking their heads. "There you go. Never say never. I mean, who wouldn't want to get with her?"

"Ah man, don't even go there." Momo laughed nervously. "I told you guys, I'm done with straight girls."

Jo Kwon's lip quirked up as he quipped, "And you've said that how many times before?"

Momo just threw an olive at him. 

\----------------

 

Momo had now been successfully avoiding Mina for three days; a feat considering they shared at least three classes together. Despite Dahyun’s advice to “stop freaking out and talk to her”, Momo hadn’t quite gotten past the freaking out stage. True to form, everytime she thought about it, the only thoughts that came to mind were about how she was sure Mina had to be grossed out about what Momo did. She didn’t want the younger girl to think she was coming on to her. Except she doubted she would have the same impulse had she been doing the scene with another of her classmates. At this point, Momo had admitted to herself there was no way she could excuse her thoughts for being that of her character’s. It was all her and going off her classmate's observations, it was pretty fucking obvious. She didn’t how much longer she’d be able to hide that from Mina.

  
She had been in the basement for about an hour now, assured that she wouldn’t run into Mina as she knew the other girl had class in a different building this time of day. She’d greet the various people that would come and go, some she knew well, others just by face. Regardless, she was deeply absorbed in reading a script Professor Bae had assigned them until she saw someone slide into the seat across from her out of her peripherals. She took a cursory glance to see who it was, and then a double take when it registered who was sitting across from her. She immediately sat up straight, stammering, “H-h-hey. I thought you had class now?" " _Well,"_  she thought _"three days was a good streak.”_

  
“It got canceled. Our professor was sick.” She saw the script in Momo’s hand and scoffed. “Don’t tell me you forgot about the quiz.” Momo grinned sheepishly. “Okay. I didn’t forget about the quiz.” Mina rolled her eyes at the blonde’s reply. “It’s amazing you even remember to eat.”

  
She just chuckled nervously and observed the other girl. Mina sat on the other side of the table, an indecipherable expression on her face. She was studying Momo carefully and it made her wish the earth would swallow her up. Was she not going to mention it? Momo could go along with that. After a few moments with a more somber note in her voice, she said, “You’ve been avoiding me.”

  
It was a statement, not a question. Momo’s first instinct was to completely deny it but she found she couldn’t even form a sentence and instead nodded her head.

  
“Why?”

  
The blonde’s stomach twisted into knots at the look of hurt on Mina’s face. She wanted nothing more than to make it go away but she couldn’t lie to the girl. Also she knew Dahyun and Jungyeon would give her hell if they found out she and Mina had talked but didn’t talk.

  
“Was it about our scene? I’m sorry, I know I messed up in a couple places but I thought we got a good response. We even got a smile out of Professor Bae.”

  
“No, no, not at all. I thought you were incredible! Like seriously that was the most fun I’ve ever had performing and it’s because of you.

  
“So then..why haven’t you been talking to me?”

  
“It’s dumb.”

  
“Tell me, Momo.”

  
"I freaked out because I kissed you on the cheek alright? And I’m really really sorry for that because I know we never practiced it but when I was looking at you laying there I just got this really strong impulse to kiss you and you know how Professor Bae’s been getting on me about stifling my impulses and stuff…it happened and I felt bad because I didn’t want you to be uncomfortable and freak you out.” 

  
Mina looked at her for a few minutes before she broke out in exasperated laughter. “That’s it?” Momo nodded stupidly. “And here I thought you hated me because I messed up the scene.”

  
Mina reached out across the table and placed her hand on top of Momo’s as she spoke. “Momo. PLEASE stop treating me like I’m some powder keg that’s going to blow up any second. I feel like you still don’t really trust me and I thought we had moved past that awhile ago.”

  
The blonde tried to ignore how soft Mina's hand was and focus on actually forming coherent sentences. "It’s an involuntary thing. Sometimes I feel like I have to police myself because I don’t want to overstep boundaries, especially physical ones with girls, and have them think I’m being creepy."

"The last word I would associate with you is creepy." Mina shook her head and then leveled her gaze at Momo. "I was so worried I had done something wrong. You're my best friend here and I don't want to lose you."

The two dreaded words. Best Friend. Momo's stomach dropped when she heard the younger girl say that but tried to keep her composure. After all, wasn't this what she had been expecting all along? Momo had lost count a long time ago of the number of times this exact sentence had been said to her. Still, she smiled apologetically at Mina. "I'm really sorry. It was just a knee jerk reaction. You're my..." she took a deep breath and forced the rest of the sentence out. "best friend here too."

"I forgive you on one condition," Mina's face turned serious. "Next time, just talk to me." Momo's smile turned crooked. "I'll do my best." Mina squeezed her hand before removing it and Momo had to fight the urge to grab it again. Picking up the script Momo had abandoned, Mina asked, "Need any help?"

"Actually, that would be wonderful. Shakespeare is the devil incarnate I swear to god."

Mina giggled and Momo wished she could say she actually paid attention to what the red-head was saying but it was fruitless.

 

 _"Maybe one day,"_ she thought  _"I'll get over you."_


	5. and i think to myself, what a wonderful world

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Jihyo has a lot of ideas. It doesn't mean they're good ones."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey ya'll
> 
> so this story is nearing the end; there will be one or two more chapters left, depending where i decide to go with the story. 
> 
> thank you to everyone who has left kudos, comments, or bookmarked this. it's really nice to know that people liked this enough to do so.
> 
> enjoy!

It had only been about four months since Mina had started at Seoul Arts Academy but with everything happening, it felt like she had been there her whole life. She was amazed at how warm and welcoming everyone had been and it was only a matter of weeks before she was fully acclimated to the department. She knew the building like the back of her hand now and knew almost everyone’s name. Mina was a fairly shy girl so she was both surprised and pleased with the fact she was able to settle in as quickly as she did.

Thinking back to her first day, it was an incredibly intimidating feeling, coming into a class where everyone already knew and was familiar with each other and with her not even being a performance major, it felt like another boundary had been placed in front of her. Thank god for Jihyo. If the wide-eyed girl hadn’t made an effort to talk with her when she realized no one else was, it could have been months before she spoke to anyone. Jihyo was the connection she needed to bridge the gap between herself and her new classmates.

  
Every day was something new and she found a lot of that had to do with one Hirai Momo. Mina recalled her being bum-rushed the first day of school and the slightly overwhelmed but happy look on the other girl’s face as her friends crowded around her, chattering. She caught Mina’s attention not only because of the bright blonde hair pulled up into a messy ponytail, but also that, despite her casual attire of jogger pants and a plain green tee, she exuded an aura of humble confidence and carried herself with an air of maturity that the rest of their classmates seemed to lack.  She didn’t resent that Momo hadn’t tried to talk to her- after all, if their positions were switched, she wouldn’t have tried to either but she was intrigued, especially when she found out Momo was also Japanese. She wanted to find a way to talk to the older girl but didn’t have a clue as how to go about initiating a conversation.

Luckily, fate took care of that and Mina was thrilled to see her name next to Momo’s in Professor Bae’s email. Not only would this let her get to know the blonde but Momo seemed like she was really talented and Mina thought they'd do well together. She'd be remiss to say she wasn't a little taken aback when she read the play Professor Bae had assigned them but, as always, she was determined to do her best. It was just an added bonus that her partner happened be ridiculously attractive

  
Mina wasn’t one to broadcast her sexuality, especially to people she had just met. If you insisted, she’d tell you she was unlabeled. She really didn’t have experience with guys or girls. So she was surprised that Momo was so forthcoming about her own preferences during their first meeting but was touched that she was being so thoughtful of Mina’s comfort.

  
Honestly, she wasn’t sure how she felt about Momo at first but she figured out a few things. She figured out that her day seemed infinitely much longer when they didn’t talk. She figured out that when she was having a tough day, seeing Momo would make everything more bearable. She figured out that her heart and stomach liked to do acrobatics when Momo initiated skinship. She figured out it broke her heart when she saw how distressed Momo was after, thinking she had crossed some sort of line and made Mina uncomfortable. She figured out that she wouldn't mind just kissing the blonde senseless. However, the one thing Mina couldn't figure out was how Momo felt about her. She had gathered that Momo was the type of the person who doted on just about everyone and was unable to discern if the older girl's actions towards her meant something more than normal. She decided she would try her best not to fret over it too much and let things take their natural course. Better safe than sorry.

  
————————

 

At this point, Mina was frustrated. She had been searching for a good 15 minutes for her advisor who seemed to have disappeared into thin air even though he was the one who scheduled this meeting. There was one place she hadn’t checked yet, the blackbox theatre so she made her way upstairs and carefully nudged open the door, hearing voices as she quietly entered. What she found wasn’t what she was looking for but a sight that warmed her heart.

There were two figures in the middle of the room. She recognized Momo right away but it wasn't until she got closer she was able to identify the second person. It was Sohye, a timid-looking freshman who had been cast in the show Momo was helping to choreograph. She also knew Sohye was having a rather difficult time picking up the routines Momo was teaching the cast. The blonde had mentioned it in passing but rather than seeming annoyed by it, she seemed  determined to find a way to help the younger girl. They weren't able to hang out much as of late with Momo saying she had some duties to attend to now and Mina realized what those "duties" were. She watched Momo broke down each of the moves, repeating it as many times as needed to for Sohye to pick it up. She’d stop occasionally and make small adjustments, all the while showering the girl with encouragement and praise. Then they’d stop, go back to the top and build up with each move. Mina giggled as she saw Sohye gazing at Momo in awe.

   
Mina didn’t know how long she stood there, watching the two work their way through the routine, the blonde never once seeming annoyed or frustrated. Eventually the red-head cleared her throat and felt her cheeks grow warm at the smile that spread across Momo’s face when she looked up.

  
“Mina!” She jogged over to where Mina stood with Sohye following hesitantly behind.

“Hi. Sorry to interrupt your practice.”

“No worries! It’s probably about time we took a break anyhow, eh Sohye?” Sohye nodded and quickly bowed 90 degrees to Mina. ‘H-hi Mina-unnie.”

Mina smiled gently at the young girl. “Hi Sohye. How are you?”

“Well, uh, I’m doing okay,” Sohye gazed down at her shoes. “I’m still struggling a bit with the routine.”

Momo took this opportunity to ruffle her bangs playfully. “Nah, you’re doing great.” Mina nodded in agreement. “From what I saw, it looks like you’ve improved a lot.” 

Large eyes gazed at both of them coupled with bright red cheeks as Sohye blushed at her seniors’ praise. “It’s all because of Momo-unnie,” she smiled brightly. “She’s a really good teacher!”

Mina looked fondly at Momo. “I’m sure she is.”

Momo laughed as she ran a hand through her messy hair before throwing an arm around Sohye’s shoulder and pulling her in for a side-hug. “It takes two, kiddo. I knew you had it in you. Some people just learn differently, you know? And that’s okay.” She grinned down at the young girl. It was obvious Momo was pretty fond of Sohye and vice versa. She was so caught up in the adorable sight in front of her that she almost didn’t catch Momo’s next words.

“Not that I’m not happy to see you, but what are you doing up here?”

“Oh,” Mina waved her hand dismissively. “I was just looking for JYP. I had some questions for him but he seems to have vanished.”

“Ahh,” Momo nodded knowingly. “He does like to do that from time to time. Give it a bit; he’s bound to pop up sooner or later.”

The red-head laughed lightly. “I sure hope so. Anyways, I should let you guys get back to it. Keep up the good work, Sohye-ah!” She gave a thumbs up to the young girl who smiled happily and returned it. “Thanks, unnie!”

Mina looked at Momo. “Are we still on for dinner later?” Momo shot her own thumbs up at the other girl. “You know it! Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“Wonderful. Have a good practice, you two. Don’t work too hard!” Mina headed back out the front entrance. Unbeknowst to her, Momo watched her exit until the very last moment when the doors banged shut behind Mina.

Her concentration was broken by a snort coming from her side before Sohye said, “You are so obvious, unnie.” Momo looked back down at the younger girl in surprise for a moment before she playfully nudged her back to the center of the stage. “Shut it, kiddo. You can start giving me shit when you get this dance down.”

  
\---------------

  
It seemed like the rest of the semester had flown by and the blonde couldn't have been happier with how this semester had been. She felt like she was making leaps and bounds in all of her classes, getting closer to her classmates, and more importantly getting closer to Mina. It wasn't unusual to find the two girls in the basement curled up on the corner couch, Momo on her laptop with Mina's head on her shoulder, reading one of her numerous plays from her collection. One was never far from the other and it had become a running joke about how sickeningly domestic they acted which Momo took in stride despite the tug she'd feel on her heart at the thought of knowing she would never get to have that.

Before Momo knew it, it was time for the Christmas banquet. The studio theatre had been decked out to the nines, giant wreaths adorning the walls and what seemed like miles of garland strung across the ceiling, and soft Christmas music playing in the background. A long table was filled with all kinds of delicious food, drinks, and desserts. The room was bustling with activity, crowded to the brim with students and faculty. She spied Tzuyu talking with Xiumin and Sana. In another corner she saw Professor Bae gesticulating wildly while talking to Professor Sooman as JYP looked on amusedly. He caught Momo’s eye and gave a friendly wave. She waved back as she moved across the room to rid herself of the drinks the sophomores had been tasked to bring. She dumped them unceremoniously on the table that already had an ungodly amount of soda, water, and tea on it and took a moment to adjust her outfit.

There weren’t a whole lot of opportunities to dress up so Momo had spent a lot of time thinking about her outfit. In the end, she went with a fitted white button down complimented by a red skinny tie, grey dress pants, and a pair of red heels to bring it all together. As she walked toward the table that Hwasa, Jo Kwon, Jackson, and most importantly, Mina were sitting at, she was greeted with a wolf whistle courtesy of Hwasa. “Daaaamn girl! So you do have a body underneath all those baggy clothes you wear.”

  
Momo did a little twirl, enjoying the attention she was receiving. “Surprised, huh?”

  
She plopped down next to Mina and playfully bumped the girl’s shoulder in greeting. “Hey. You look beautiful.” Beautiful didn't do Mina justice when the red-head had chosen a deep burgundy dress whose top half was comprised of intricate patterns of lace with black tights and a pair of black stilettos. Honestly, Mina had been the first thing she noticed when she had walked into the theater and it was taking a good part of her willpower to keep her jaw from gaping at the gorgeous girl sitting next to her.

Mina nudged Momo in return. “You’re not too bad yourself.” Momo pretended to dust off her shoulder, feigning nonchalance. “I can clean up nicely when I want to.” She turned back to the conversation but not before she thought she heard a soft, “Yes you do.” uttered next to her. She glanced back at Mina briefly but she was clearly focused on the conversation happening at the table and so Momo brushed it off without much more than a thought.

Dinner ended up being absolutely lovely. Momo had no idea the department was full of so many good cooks and felt absolutely stuffed. Their end of the table was endlessly entertaining, courtesy of Jackson and Hwasa engaging in their legendary banter which had Momo in stitches and ended up almost choking on a roll because she was laughing so hard. After that, she decided it was best to step away from her plate and ease the bloating, so she stood near the top of the table.

There was a lull in the conversation and the song faded out from Winter Wonderland to one of Momo’s favorite Christmas songs, What A Wonderful World. Letting the music wash over her, she slowly started swaying back and forth, eyes shut, and when she cracked one eye open, she caught Mina looking at her with a soft smile. The blonde opened her arms in an invitation to dance and Mina shook her head, laughing. Not one to give up, Momo made her way around to her seat and extended her hand to the younger girl, bowing slightly and looking at her with what she hoped was a charming grin. Mina shook her head again but took the proffered hand and was led back to the front of the table where there was more room and was pulled in almost tenderly to Momo who guided her hand, placing it on her shoulder and settling her own hand on Mina’s waist. They rocked back and forth to the soft melody and after a few moments, Mina tentatively laid her head on Momo’s shoulder, smiling when she felt the blonde’s breath hitch slightly.

  
Of course, it only lasted a few moments before Jackson and his impeccable timing popped their bubble.

"Aw, the two lovebirds."  

  
Momo glared daggers at him but was caught off guard when Mina wrapped her arms around Momo’s waist, bringing them and smirked at the boy. “Jealous, Jackson?”

  
He laughed. “Nah, I’m all about that bachelor life but speaking of being lovebirds,” he trailed off and took a pull of his drink, eyes gleaming with mischief. Momo recognized that look and knew immediately at whatever came out his mouth next was definitely going to embarrass her.

“You wanna know something funny? After the first time you two did your scene, everyone tooootally started shipping you guys together. We even gave a ship name-MiMo.” He looked extremely satisfied that he was the one who got to divulge this information to the two. They pulled apart and looked at each other and then back at him in disbelief. “No you guys did not.”

  
“No we seriously did.” Jo Kwon piped up.

  
Momo laughed weakly again. “I cannot believe you guys.” 

She watched out of the corner of her eye for Mina’s reaction and found her mouth slightly open and cheeks flaming red. Wanting to end the awkwardness before it got any worse, she attempted to play it off, instead slung an arm over Mina’s shoulders and her voice full of false bravado. “I mean, I can’t blame you. Our scene was pretty dope, right Minari?” She smiled down at the red-head who looked back at her with an indecipherable expression, cheeks still bright red. Momo wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination but she could have sworn she had seen Mina’s eyes flicker down to her lips.

  
It was fleeting as the younger girl seemed to have gained her senses back and started playing along by wrapping both her arms around Momo’s waist. “Yeah I’d agree. Because you had me for a partner.” She stuck her tongue out playfully and Momo feigned hurt, clutching her hand over her chest. Laughter rose up from the table and the attention was subsequently diverted from them by the head of the department announcing they were to head over to the main theatre to take the annual theatre department Christmas picture.

There's no force quite like a huge crowd of people all trying to get to the same location and one moment Momo was walking with Mina and the next she was somehow separated from the group, pushed around by the mass of people headed through the doors. Clambering up the stage with everyone else, she craned her neck to look around for the others but they were nowhere to be found. She attempted to make her way through the throng but instead ended up on the far left side next to Sana who hugged her happily. “Momo!”

  
Looking around once more, she reluctantly accepted that she probably wasn't going to find the others before the picture was taken and returned the hug. “Hey, Sana. How’s it going?”

  
“Awesome!” Momo smiled fondly at the other girl. If the sun were a person, it would Minatozaki Sana. The girl was an endless, bubbling fountain of energy and positivity. What she lacked in the brain smarts department (not to say she was stupid by any means) but her talents definitely laid more with people. She didn’t consider them to be very close even though they were less than two months apart and saw each other daily but she had a definite soft spot for the younger girl. Momo admired her relentless persistence and unending optimism; if anything, she wished she could be more like her.

  
“Having a good night so far?” 

  
“Yeah! The food was so good and look how pretty the theatre looks. And everyone looks so nice!” Sana gushed.

  
"They definitely outdid themselves this time. I have no idea how they're going to top this next year.""I haven't really seen you all night. Where have you been?”

  
Sana smirked. “I’ve been around. Around enough to see you dancing with your girlfriend.” Momo blinked a couples times, certain she hadn't heard the grey-haired girl correctly. “I’m sorry…my girlfriend?”

“Uh yeah, Mina? I am so happy for you guys oh my god, I about died from how cute you two were earlier dancing by the tables.”

  
“What?! Haha, Mina is definitely not my girlfriend,” A nervous laugh escaped Momo as she looked at anywhere other than Sana. “Yeah no way.”

  
Sana pouted. “So you’re not dating?”

  
“No! Where did you even get that idea?”

  
“You guys act like it,” she shrugged. “Cuddling all the time, holding hands, whispering to each other.”

  
“Haha, you're imagining things, dude. I mean, like fuck I wouldn’t say no but there’s no way in hell thats happening. She’s straight.”

Their conversation was cut short by the photographer announcing that they would be taking the picture now. As Momo put her arm around Sana and flashed a peace sign to the camera, she couldn't help but wonder if the way her and Mina acted made it really seem like they were a couple. It seemed to be the popular opinion but Momo didn't trust her own observations. The rest of the party flew by without much fanfare and she eventually met up with the others again but her mind remained occupied by Sana's words. 

 

\---------------

 

Unable to stop thinking about her exchange with Sana, Momo finally decided she needed help. Or at least a more reliable third party opinion. And who was Mina's other best friend?

Park Jihyo. 

Momo suggested they go get lunch together and they ended up at a small Thai restaurant near the edge of campus and it was only after their food arrived that Momo worked up the nerve to spit it out. The other girl didn’t react except for taking another bite of rice, and after chewing, said, “I know.” 

Okay that was not the response Momo was expecting. She gaped at her. “You knew?” With a glimmer in her eye, Jihyo smiled and nodded. The blonde buried her face into her hands and groaned. “I’m really that obvious?”

  
Jihyo snorted. “Oh yeah. Not that it matters because Mina is oblivious as much as you are obvious. I swear to god that girl does not realize how pretty she is,” She twirled her noodles onto her chopsticks and slurped them up before continuing. “I think you have as good of a shot as anyone else, if not better. Whenever we talk about ideal types, she uses neutral pronouns AND But she’s not nearly as touchy with anyone else as she is with you."

Momo peered at Jihyo suspiciously through her fingers. Since when did a girl that Momo liked ever actually liked her back? Past experience says a grand total of never and yet here she was, listening to the other person closest to Mina telling her that she might have a chance with her.

  
“Of course you’ll have to make the first move,” Jihyo looked pointedly at Momo, sarcasm coloring her voice, “Which we all know how great you are that.”

  
Momo picked at her food and looked up meekly at Jihyo. “You honestly think I have a shot?”

  
Jihyo shrugged. “You never know. Hey,” she started laughing, “Here’s an idea. Just get drunk and see what happens. The Christmas party is next week and worse comes to worst you can blame it on the alcohol."

  
Jihyo has a lot ideas. It doesn’t mean they’re good ones. But Momo figures it’s not the WORST idea in the world.


	6. hakuna ma' vodka

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Alcohol is the cause and the solution to many of life's problems." - Dan Castellaneta

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 more chapter to go! 
> 
> i debated just waiting to post one long chapter but considering how long it took me to churn just this out, i figured it'd be better to split them in half. 
> 
> anyway. 
> 
> enjoy! kudos, comments, etc are always appreciated.

There ain’t no party like a theatre party.

Momo had only just arrived, fashionably late, and yet she already spied at least two people passed out on the couch while one was leading another to the bathroom, the latter looking very green around the gills. “ _Oh, freshmen.”_

She shook her head in good humor. Momo had long learned her lesson at the Halloween party last year. Go figure that drinking Fireball, jaegerbombs, and a shit ton of beer would end up with her puking in the kitchen sink before blacking out and subsequently having to be hauled home by Jackson, losing her keys in the process. Jeongyeon and Dahyun still give her shit about it. Jerks

Momo made her way into the kitchen and set her own drinks in the fridge; she had learned that all it took were a couple bottles of soju and a couple shooters of Jack Daniels to get her pleasantly drunk and not feel like death the next day. Spinning the cap open on a bottle, she turned back around and leaned against the counter. The house was a decent size but there were so many people that it might as well have looked like a doll house. Even in the kitchen, there had to be at least fifteen people, some Momo knew, some she didn’t. She took a few moments to observe the crowd, taking a long pull of her drink and it wasn’t long before Jihyo sidled up to her. “Did you just get here?”

Momo nodded, still scanning the crowd of people. Focused, she failed to see the smirk that crept up the latter’s face who knew exactly what she was doing. She casually took a sip of her own drink and then, as if talking about the weather, said, “Mina is downstairs.” causing Momo’s head to snap back at her.

Jihyo just looked back at her. “You’ve got to stop being so obvious. I can’t believe she doesn’t know already.” That statement earned her an elbow in the side.

“Watch it.”

“I’m not wrong though.” Jihyo took another sip of her drink and eyed her. “You going or not?”

Momo shook her head. “Not yet. I just got here and I definitely need to be more drunk before that happens. Plus it just seems clingy as fuck to find her the minute I get here.”

“Because you don’t do that already?”

She scowls at Jihyo who just smiles innocently at her. It was times like this that she regretted choosing Jihyo to confide in because the girl had done nothing but tease her relentlessly. She could deal most of the time but even Momo has her limits. In an attempt to appease the shorter girl, she downs the rest of her drink and tosses it into the trashcan before turning back to Jihyo who proceeds to pull out another of Momo’s bottles and one of her shooters and shoves it in her hands. “Go find your girl already.”

“I seriously need to let the alcohol kick in more before I go do that. Let’s hang for a bit. Or do you really want to get rid of me that badly?”

Jihyo laughed. “You know I love you. And fine but don’t wait too long. Someone might snatch her up in the meantime.” She warned teasingly and Momo just rolled her eyes, thankfully feeling the liquid courage flooding her body.

“Even if that were to happen,” she smirked. “I’d snatch her right back.” Momo twisted off the cap of the shooter and downed it. “Just give me like ten minutes for this to actually kick in.”

 

—————————-

 

It ended up being more like twenty minutes.

Jihyo ended up leaving soon after their initial conversation and Momo figured this would be as good a time as any to make her rounds. It gave her something to do while waiting for the alcohol to take effect. She hopped from group to group, talking with everyone, and it was only when her head felt just fuzzy enough that she decided it was time to find Mina. Stumbling slightly down the stairs, she weaved her way through the basement and finally found the girl in question squished to the side of a couch with Jackson and Hwasa who looked like they were two seconds away from fucking right then and there.

Momo decided it wasn’t worth Hwasa killing her for interrupting to say hi so she instead plopped down in front of Mina and gave her a rakish grin. “Hey you.” Except the red-head didn’t even have time to open her mouth before Momo was tackled by a very, very drunk Chaeyoung.

“MOGURIIII!”

She ended up splayed atop Momo who couldn’t help but crack up at how ridiculous the small girl was acting. “Hi Chaengie.”

The short haired girl struggled to get upright as Momo tried her best to help the younger girl. Not that she had much of a choice when Chaeyoung was clinging to her like a damn koala. When they finally got upright again, Chaeyoung was on Momo’s lap with both arms wrapped around her neck and both of Momo’s arms around the former’s waist to steady her.

“How ya doing, shortie?”

Chaeyoung started giggling uncontrollably, barely managing to get out an, “I’m soooooo good.” All of the sudden she stopped laughing and stared at Momo, looking incredibly concerned as she asked in a very serious tone, “Are you good, unnie?”

The blonde chuckled. “I’m great.”

Satisfied with the answer, the short haired girl went back to all smiles and looking at Momo with a very unfocused gaze. “I’mma kiss you on the cheek, kay? I’m gonna,” and before Momo could protest, she laid a big smack right on her cheek and proceeded to roll right off her lap with an abrupt, “Bye unnie!” before crawling over to Hwasa.

Chaeyoung was definitely an interesting drunk. She glanced back over to the couch and found Mina staring at a completely oblivious Chaeyoung with an irritated, almost….territorial look on her. While Hwasa was patting Chaeyoung’s head, listening to the younger girl’s drunken ramblings and Jackson sulked, having been cockblocked, Mina stood up abruptly.

“I’m going to get some air.”

Momo took the cue to scramble to her feet as well. “I’ll come with you, it’s hot as hell in here.” Without much thought, she grabbed Mina’s hand and started leading her back through the crowd, holding tightly so they wouldn’t get separated. It wasn’t long before they got to the door leading to the backyard deck and managed to find a (semi) quiet spot near the corner of the deck. Momo reluctantly released Mina’s hand, immediately missing the warmth and they both leaned on the railing, admiring the view. It was a rare night where the sky was clear and you could see the stars twinkling above. Not that being close to Mina was a new experience but with Mina’s current proximity and the smell of her perfume made Momo think it wasn’t the alcohol that was making her feel drunk anymore. She inhaled deeply, savoring their closeness before breaking the silence.

“You doing okay?”

Mina sighed and leaned into Momo. “Better. Now that you’re here.”

Momo looked down at the younger girl in surprise but Mina’s gaze was still trained to the sky. “Really?”

Mina looked back up at Momo and smiled shyly. “Yeah. It’s always better when you’re around.”

Momo really hoped the cover of darkness hid the red flush that took over her face (she could always blame it on the booze) and chuckled, thankful her voice didn’t waver. “Whatever. How much have you had to drink tonight to make you say stuff like that?”

She pouted up at Momo. “I’m serious. Not that I don’t love everyone here but you’re special to me. And Jihyo. She was the first one who talked to me and maybe it took us a little longer but I think that’s just because we’re both kind of awkward people but once we got past that…I don’t think I’ve ever gotten along with someone so well. I mean I…I’m pretty drunk right now but it doesn’t make what I say any less true.”

The redhead nuzzled into her shoulder and Momo put her arm around her shoulders instinctively. They stood there in comfortable silence until an incredibly shit-faced Jo Kwon broke the moment by flinging both his arms around them.

“THE MIMO SHIP SAILS AGAIN.”

Momo closed her eyes briefly willing herself not to kill the boy for his timing but opted instead to duck out of his embrace before she grabbed the boy in a headlock. She yanked him around for a few moments before she released him and he brushed himself off indignantly. “Hey, Kwonie. Looks like you’re having a good time.”

She eyed him, noting his unfocused and glassy eyes. Judging from the way he smelled, he had definitely been in the green room which would also explain why she hadn’t seen him until now. She caught Mina’s eye and mimed smoking a joint, rolling her eyes which rewarded her with a laugh.

“Whatcha guys doing out here all by yourselves?” Kwon waggled his eyebrows.

Momo craned her neck, indicating the house. “I doubt that you’ve noticed considering I’m pretty sure where you’ve been all night but it’s hot as hell in that house.”

“Which is why we are out here. Where it is not hot as hell.” Mina finished.

“You’d be right. I’ve been otherwise occupied tonight but now here I am! With my two favorite gays.” He cooed, patting both of their cheeks  
Momo swatted his hand away, annoyed, but her ears perked up. She couldn’t be sure whether it was the weed talking or something he actually meant. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mina throw him a warning look, cheeks flushed.

Filing a mental note in her head to talk to Jo when he wasn’t high, Momo drew his attention with a slap to the arm and a wounded look. “Don’t you mean your only favorite gay?”

“Oh fine, my one favorite gay.”

Momo returned the favor and patted him on the cheek condescendingly. “There we go.”

 It was the last thing she wanted to do but Momo could feel her buzz wearing off with each passing minute and didn’t think she’d be able to deal with anymore possible revelations in her current state. She clapped her hands together. “So. Despite it feeling like Satan has laid his ass crack on earth in there, I’m gonna head back inside because that’s where the rest of my alcohol is and I definitely can’t let it go to waste. You gonna come?”

Mina shook her head. “I think I’m gonna stay out here for a little bit more and talk to Jo.”

A little disappointed at the answer, Momo didn’t show it and before she even knew what she was doing, she leaned over and dropped a kiss on Mina’s head.  
“I’m sure I’ll see you around! You too, Kwon, assuming you don’t retreat back into the green room.” The boy simply stuck out his tongue at Momo who laughed and headed back towards the porch door.

 

\------------------

 

Mina watched the blonde go before turning back to Kwon with a glare that would make Medusa jealous. “What was that?!”

Jo feigned innocence. “I have no idea what you’re speaking of.”

Mina rolled her eyes. “Oh, you know EXACTLY what it is I’m speaking of, Kwon. ’Oh my two favorite gays!’ Why would you say that?”

“Because you are my two favorite gays? I don’t see anything wrong with that statement unless…” His eyes widened in realization. “Oh my god. Wait…you haven’t told her yet. Mina!”

She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. She hadn't meant for Jo to find out but the boy is very perceptive and cornered her one day. She wasn't sure if she could trust him to keep it on the down low but he had actually been really helpful, finally giving Mina someone to talk to and hadn't slipped up once. Until now. “I’ve been meaning to…I just haven’t found the right time.”

“That’s the oldest excuse in the book. You’re gonna have to come up with something better than that, girl. It’s not like she’s gonna run screaming away from you.”

“It’d be one thing if it was just telling her but it makes harder since I actually like her…” the alcohol had definitely done its job of loosening her tongue. It slipped out before she could stop it and from the giddy grin on Kwon’s face, he definitely heard it loud and clear. He whooped loudly. “I KNEW I WASN’T IMAGINING THINGS! BITCHES BETTER PAY UP!!”

Mina clapped a hand over his mouth, quickly looking around to see if anyone heard. Thankfully, there weren’t many people outside anymore and the ones that were she didn’t recognize. “Can you not?!” Her brain caught up then and registered the last part of his sentence. “And what do you mean bitches better pay up?!”

Jo grinned like the cat who ate the canary. “We may or may not have had a little bet going around on whether you liked Momo too. Jihyo and I were the only ones who said you did. Everyone else was convinced you were just a phenomenal actor.”

“Since when did it even matter?”

Jo just shrugged. “We were bored. And it was interesting.”

  
All Mina could do was stare at him in disbelief. She was dumbfounded that their classmates had been keeping such a close eye on their relationship. She pinched the bridge of her nose and drew in a deep breath. “So basically everyone knows. Or at least suspects”

“Yup.” He confirmed with a smirk. “Except Momo because that girl is as dense as steel.”

“Great. Thank guys.” Her sarcasm completely flew over his head as he beamed at her. “Anytime, babe," Something over Mina's shoulder caught his attention and his eyes took on a predatory gleam. "Now if you’ll excuse me, I spy with my little eye a tasty looking prospect.” He slinked off and Mina turned back to the railing, leaning heavily against it. She tilted her head back, eyes closed, as her mind spun with the new information

_“Everyone knows. Fucking great…I could strangle all of them right now except jail doesn’t sound very appealing. Also I’d have to explain to Momo why all her friends are dead which would mean telling her everything…”_

Jo's voice echoed in her head. ** _“We may or may not have had a little bet going on whether you liked Momo too.”_**

Wait. Her eyes snapped open. Liked Momo too? What did he mean by that? Was he implying that Momo liked her back? No. She shook her head. No way. That would be too easy. A million excuses ran through her head.

_“She’s just being nice. I bet I’m not even her type. She probably likes someone else. She wouldn’t want to be in a serious relationship."_

And yet she couldn’t keep herself from wondering what it would be like if it were true. To not have to keep herself in check, to be able to lean up and kiss those lips she’s stared at so many time, to be able to hold her hand and have it mean something more than just friends. They only had finals week left and she already knew Momo would be staying here and working to save up money while she had a plane ticket home. It was hard enough imagining being away from the blonde for that long but to keep herself wondering what if the entire time was guaranteed to drive her insane.

She needed to find Momo. Also, she needed a fucking drink.


	7. love is friendship set on fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "God bless whoever came up with the idea of mistletoe."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and so it ends. 
> 
> thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to read, comment, give kudos, subscribe, etc this crazy little story of mine. it's been quite the learning process but your love helped keep me going.
> 
> that said, this will be my last multi-chaptered fic (at least for now). 
> 
> i'm set to graduate from college in december and I'm gonna have a lot of school things demanding my attention for the rest of the semester. but with Twice's comeback in October(!!!!!) i'm sure i'll be at least adding something to my one-shot collection (which if you haven't checked it out yet, you should :P).
> 
> maybe by the time i start writing full stories again, i'll be able to write something that isn't pure, mindless, fluff lol
> 
>  
> 
> **if you want, you can find me on tumblr at keiti33.tumblr.com. i reblog a lot of twice, red velvet, mamamoo, exid, snsd etc. basically i'm just a girl group trash blog.**

True to her assumption, it was just as hot, if not hotter, inside the house. Momo’s plan was to get to the fridge, get the rest of her alcohol, down it, and then try to keep her mind off the conversation that just happened. She didn’t want to think about tonight. This was supposed to be a good night and trying to decipher muddled signals wasn’t going to help.

She reached the fridge, yanking the door open and sighed in relief when she saw no one else had jacked her bottles. She grabbed her last bottle and one of her shooters, downing the latter in one gulp. Momo heard a snort from behind her and she turned to see Hwasa with an amused expression.

“Damn. Everything okay?”

  
Momo waved her off with the other bottle in her hand. “Peachy. Just felt the buzz wearing off and figured I’d remedy it sooner rather than later.” She gave the short-haired girl an up down and smirked. “Noticed you and Jackson were getting pretty cozy.”

  
Hwasa scoffed but her red cheeks betrayed her. “He’s completely shit-faced. It’s nothing.”

  
The blonde raised an eyebrow. “If you say so.”

  
Hwasa glanced around. “Where’s Mina? I thought you two would be glued at the hip all night.”

  
Shrugging, Momo opened her last bottle and took a pull. “Last I saw, she was outside on the deck talking with Kwon. I don’t always have to be with her, you know.”

  
She put up her hands in a gesture. “Didn’t say that. I was just curious.”

  
“Whatever. I’m gonna head back downstairs and see who’s there. You wanna come?”

  
“Sure. Just let me refill my own drink.”

 

 

 ----------------

 

  
Mina made her way back into the house, after being accosted by a very drunk Sana who went on and on about how cute her and Momo looked at the banquet. She finally made her escape, distracting Sana by pointing out Tzuyu who had been quietly sitting in a corner talking with Xiumin the whole night. She knew Sana had a thing for her and she figured it was the least rude way to get rid of her.

Once inside, she scanned the crowd of people, searching for a head of bright blonde hair. Disappointed when it became apparent Momo wasn’t around, she decided to fix at least part of the problem and headed towards the kitchen. It was significantly less crowded than earlier, granting her easy access to the counter where she noticed a couple bottles of liquor and beer. Mina perused the counter, wondering who would mind if she took a couple bottles. Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder and whirled around, coming face to face with Jihyo who smiled at the girl’s reaction. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. Looking for something to drink?”

  
Mina gave the older girl a sheepish smile. “Actually, yeah. I underestimated how much alcohol I needed tonight.”

  
“Well, you’re welcome to some of mine. Otherwise, the one on the left is Jackson’s and at this point, it’d be better for him if his alcohol was gone. The bottle next to it is Hwasa’s and I’m pretty sure the last one is Jo’s.”

  
Mina’s hand immediately went for Jo’s. She figured if anything, he owed her after his slip-up but rather than drinking it, she simply unscrewed the cap and dumped its contents into the sink, ignoring Jihyo's questioning eyes.

“I’ll take some of Jackson’s too. For his benefit, of course.” She grabbed Jackson’s bottle of rum and poured it into a cup.

Both of Jihyo’s eyebrows raised up. “You’re not gonna drink that straight, are you? ‘Cause there’s Coke and other mixers in the fridge.”

 “Oh god no.” Mina shuddered. “I need to not be able to taste the alcohol. Thanks for telling me.”

  
“I got you, girl.”

  
Mina reached into the fridge and grabbed a can of Coke, cracking it open and filling up the rest of her cup. She cautiously took a sip and then nodded, satisfied. She turned back to Jihyo. “What have you been up to all night?”

  
“Oh you know, just schmoozing my way around. I had a drink earlier but I agreed to drive Jackson, Chaeyoung, and Sana back to campus,” Jihyo raised her glass. “So just water for me now.”

  
Mina nodded. “That’s nice of you.”

  
Jihyo just grinned. “More like it’s my way to not feel like complete shit the next day.”

  
The younger girl laughed. “That works too.” She took another sip before asking, “Have you seen Momo?”

  
Jihyo scrunched her face up in thought. “I think I saw her head downstairs again with Hwasa but that was awhile ago. So she could be anywhere. I’d check there first though.”

  
“Wanna come?” Mina offered.

  
Jihyo shook her head. “I would but I have to go round up my charges because who knows what kind of shit they’ve gotten into.”

  
“If it helps, Jackson was downstairs earlier. Come with me anyway. Then you can say bye to everyone too.”

  
The older girl pursed her lips. “You’re right. Let’s go.”

 

\---------------

 

Momo leaned against the wall next to the stairs, chatting with Hwasa. She had finished her bottle awhile ago and it had definitely done the trick. Her mind was in a pleasant haze, her cheeks red, and the grin had yet to leave her face. Despite the fogginess in her brain, she was on full alert as she heard the sound of steps coming down the stairs and her stomach flipped when she saw who it was.

Mina beamed as she saw Momo and went right to her as Jihyo left to go find at least one of her people. “So this is where you went.”

  
“Yeah. It’s no outside but definitely cooler down here.” Momo turned back to Hwasa only to find that the girl had disappeared. Of course.

  
She leaned back into the wall and tried to focus on Mina. “How was your talk with Kwon?”

  
Mina shrugged. "It was alright. Until he got ‘distracted,’” she said, using air quotes. “You know how he gets when he sees a guy.”

  
Momo chuckled. “Oh yeah, I know. He’s ridiculous.”

  
A comfortable silence stretched out between them and just like the first day of school, Momo took the time to drink in Mina who seemed oblivious to her stare until she looked back at her. “What?”

  
Momo chuckled. “Nothing,” she pushed off the wall, closing the gap between them. “Just admiring the view.” Where the hell did that come from? Apparently her lips seemed to move faster than her brain at this point but she figured she had nothing to lose. If she fucked up, she could just blame the alcohol.

  
Mina turned an adorable shade of pink and pushed Momo, giggling. “Okay you’re definitely drunk.”

  
The blonde’s lips curled up in a half-smile. “Maybe. But it’s the truth.”

  
Mina shook her head, willing the heat spreading across her cheeks to die down. “You’re ridiculous. It’s a good thing you’re cute.”

  
Momo cocked her head. “You think I’m cute?”

  
Realizing just how much of her filter she had lost in the span of half an hour, Mina's eyes widened and she quickly ducked her head down, avoiding eye contact.

  
Fueled by her liquid courage, Momo gently caught Mina’s chin and raised her head back up, matching her gaze. “Good thing I think you’re cute, too.”

  
She didn’t know how long they stayed like that but the moment was broken yet again, this time by Jackson’s slurred booming as he was dragged up the stairs by Jihyo.

“OH MY GOD JUS’ KISS ALREADY! YER UNDER A MISTLETOE FER GOD’S SAKE!”

Jihyo shot them an apologetic look as she continued to shoo Jackson upstairs. Mina was frozen while Momo looked up and discovered that yes, they were actually under a mistletoe. The grin slowly returned to her face and her gaze landed back on Mina, mouth still half-open and staring after where Jackson had been.

  
“So?”

  
Mina’s head jerked back to stare at Momo who had a soft smile on her face. The combination of the alcohol, her proximity to the other girl, and the possibility of kissing her had her head spinning and she just barely managed to stutter out a, “S-s-so?”

  
“I mean, it is a tradition. And I think it’d be a shame to break it.”

  
“You’re r-r-right.”

  
Momo slowly leaned in, drawing closer and closer to Mina’s face. A hand slid up Mina’s neck, cupping her jaw, but the blonde stopped just short of her lips. “Tell me to stop if you want me to.” she murmured, searching Mina's face for any sign of discomfort or hesitance.

  
Her eyes fluttered shut at Momo’s touch but she wanted to remember every single moment of this. She forced her eyes back open, sure her heart would beat right out of her chest any minute, and let out a shaky breath. “Please. Keep going.”

Not waiting a second longer, Momo brought their lips together and she could swear every nerve in her body was on fire. The feeling of Mina’s lips, sweet and soft, on hers made her knees weak; it was all she could do to keep upright and, desperate for more contact, pulled at the other girl’s waist bringing them flush against in each other. With her brain firing on all cylinders, Momo took a chance and parted Mina’s lips with a tongue running along the seam which earned her a sharp intake of breath. She smirked, proud of causing that kind of reaction but the tables were turned when she felt a bite on her lower lip and a soft moan escaped her mouth.

  
Mina felt her head spinning at the kiss. She whined- actually whined- as the kiss was broken but neither pulled away. Momo continued to pepper kisses, light and short, all over Mina's face that she chased every time; anything to bring their lips back together but the blonde playfully avoided her attempts until at last Mina captured her lips again. With foreheads touching and noses bumping, they kissed languidly until Mina finally had to pull away, needing to catch her breath. It was a futile attempt as the way Momo looked at her, like she was the single most beautiful thing that had ever graced this world, made her stomach drop.

Unwilling to give up contact, Momo pulled her into a tight hug and Mina tucked her head underneath the blonde’s chin. They stood there in silence, lost in their own world for a few moments before Mina nuzzled closer into her chest and spoke, “I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time.”

  
Momo let that sink in before her smile returned full-force and, murmuring into her hair, said, “Probably not as long as me.”

  
She felt the red-head smile against her chest. “We wasted a lot of time, huh?”

  
“I wouldn’t say wasted.” Mina looked up at the other girl who met her gaze. “I’ve always believed friends make the best lovers.”

  
Mina kissed her again, pulling away with a grin. “You wanna know something messed-up?”

  
Momo’s forehead scrunched as she warily asked, “What?”

  
The younger girl laid her head back on the blonde’s chest, breath ghosting against her neck and sending shivers up Momo’s spine. “The rest of our class had a bet on whether I liked you or not too.”

  
All Momo could do was roll her eyes and groan. “Of course they did. Why am I not surprised?” she pulled back to look down at her again. “So who were the winners?”

  
“Just Jo and Jihyo.”

  
“Ugh. Okay, I guess it's not THAT bad.”

  
Mina just laughed and pulled away, trailing her hands down to Momo’s to intertwine them. “At least something good came of it, right?”

  
The blonde brought their hands up and kissed them softly. “The absolute best kind of thing.” After a moment, her smile vanished and was replaced with a look of insecurity and hesitance. “You won’t regret this tomorrow, right?”

  
Mina released one of her hands and laid it on Momo’s cheek, hoping she could read her eyes. “I told you. You should give me more credit than that.”

  
The older girl covered the hand on her cheek and turned to kiss it. “When should we tell everyone?”

  
With a twinkle in her eye, Mina grinned. “They can wait till after winter break. I want time alone with you first. It’ll suck being away but I’ll have a good reason now to come back early.”

  
Momo decided that a goofy grin was just going to be permanently plastered on her face. “Myoui Mina is all mine.”

  
The blush of red Momo had come to love graced the other girl’s cheeks once again as she brought the blonde down for another kiss. “And Hirai Momo is mine.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> As always, kudos and comments/constructive criticism are always welcome


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